Meet Walky, the iPads best friend

Most bipedal robots are controlled via microcontroller. Let alone most robots. However, this little bot has done the "impossible." Controlled by an iPad, Walky can walk forward, backward, side to side, and even spin around in a circle! This robot can also kick a soccer using the four servos that it has in it's legs. All it takes is two fingers, a tablet, the correct gesture, and this robot can really impress you. Don't believe me? Fine then, just check out the video above to see Walky show off it's advanced robotic technology!



source: video listed

Update on my robot, synapse

For the past week, I have been scavenging for nuts and bolts for synapse. So far I have found a few motors (pretty much useless until I find a gear box of some sort), some switches, a servo attachment, some LED's, and a battery pack. I may even change up the cardboard chassis for a more durable one. Any ideas for features for synapse ate welcome in the comment section below. Thanks for reading and I'll update you next week on my robot, synapse.

Cubelets at a glance

A while ago, I wrote a post on these little cube robots called Cubelets. During the CES 2012, Cubelets had their own stand, and in the video below a demonstration is shown. The video is short, but it does give you some basic information about these little bots. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Info source: video listed

The Robot Poll, Cast Your Vote today

Out of all the robots in the world today, there's got to be a favorite one for everybody. Cast your vote today!

Which robot do you think is the best?

AsimoiRobot Roomba (any version)AiboRobotBrrdKismetNaoNao next gen.

pollcode.com free polls

This robot may just give you the creeps

You've just entered the uncanny valley. So your probably thinking to yourself right now that this robot baby is creepy or disturbing. As a matter of fact, your not alone. Most of the people that have seen this robot think it's creepy too. As a result of a great design that the people used to created this robot, this robot really resembles a life like baby. A few servos, some metal, and a great design really pulls it off. Now if it had skin covering all the clockwork then this bot would be trapped in the abyss of the uncanny valley. Thanks for reading and special thanks to Adafruit Industries for sharing this on Google + !

Source: Video listed

New robot project, synapse

I have decided to make a robot that reacts to its environment. Alan off of LMR Actually inspired me to do this. Anyways, my robot will react to sound, touch, and possibly light. It will have a monkey like face too. The picture below shows it's developmental stage, and I will update you guys when it's necessary.

The Solsylva CNC Machine Build Video Part Two

Press the YouTube button to see a bigger video.

Lot's of progress again today on the Solsylva CNC machine build for the QC Co-Lab makerspace in Davenport Iowa.  This video show the next step in the assembly as I put together part of the gantry for the "Y" axis of  the David Steele Solsylva CNC machine. A good start to another great project.

Building The Solsylva CNC Machine Video Part 1

Click the YouTube Button For Bigger Video

  After spending the last couple of days gathering emails, drawings, notes, tools, parts and my video camera I started building another Solsylva CNC machine.  The video posted here will hopefully be one of the first of many videos that will step you through the process of putting one of these wonderful machines together designed by David Steele. 
   A lot of what is on this blog already is because of this machine.  Check out the video and follow along in the coming weeks and hopefully I will give you a good idea of how to put one of these together for your shop.  I will not give you all the particulars concerning this design as you will have to buy a set of plans from David Steele from his website. http://solsylva.com/   It will be the best money you ever spent for a tool that you will love to build and make things with.  I'm a big fan for sure.

ABB Robotics Soda Can Challenge

Robot arms are amazing by them selves, but these ABB's are just out of this world. The video above shows three robot arms each moving a pin around a group of soda cans. The challenge? It's to simply move the pin around the soda cans without touching them at all. Not only is that hard, but each robot has one arm with a group of cans and the other with a pin. These robots obviously have amazing maneuverability, and ABB calls it, "Super motion control." If you don't quite understand me, then just check out the video above!

Source: video listed

Building The Solsylva CNC Machine....... Again

   
 This past Saturday I was once again in Davenport Iowa for a group meeting at the QC Co-Lab maker space. As usual I enjoy rubbing elbows with the guys  and ladies at the Co-Lab and compare notes, projects, and ideas that everyone has.  It has been finally decided to start the build of another Solsylva CNC machine for the Co-Lab and I am to be the driving force behind this project. This is all well and good as having built the same machine for The Tinker's Workshop I am considered the expert in our little group at the Co-Lab.  
  I spent all day today going over old emails and notes to figure out where I ordered all the intricate obscure miscellaneous parts that will go into the machine that you can't buy at your local hardware store.  Luckily so far this has been the least of my worries about this project.  I will build the more intricate parts of the machine in my little workshop and then haul them down to Davenport to do the final build.  The guys at the Co-Lab will do the major construction, painting and electronics.  With my guidance of course.  Then we'll get it up and running, dial it in, and start making more interesting stuff at the Co-Lab.
  My plan is to document the build here on my blog to give you a good idea as to what it will take to put this wonderful machine together. I have a lot of photos of my first build and so as I progress with this build I will lay out what needs to be done step by step.  I do not plan on giving away the plans or the detailed information that is in them as I did not design this CNC machine and do not have the right to give this information out freely.  It was the ingenious work of a gentleman by the name of David Steele.  I do not wish to take away anything from Mr. Steele so you will have to check out his website for information on how to get your own set of plans for his design.  http://solsylva.com/ 
   I think with the information I plan on passing along to you in the coming weeks will better show you what it takes to put his wonderful machine together.  After having already built this design once before I can tell you that it will take some work but it is far from difficult.   I give a gold star to David Steele for the information that he lays out in his plans that makes it all doable by anyone that is just a little bit mechanically inclined.  I also can give everyone some ideas that I have come up with to make his design a little easier to build and use.  If you like my ideas then go ahead and use them.  If not build the machine the way David Steele designed it.  That's up to you. No biggie.
  So check back here over the coming weeks and you'll see the process that I will lay out for you to build your own Solsylva CNC machine.

Why I hate smartphones - and what makes them great

It's taken me a long time to even entertain getting a smartphone. I used to find them a social nuisance, always ringing and pinging and going off all the time - and don't get me started on people who sit opposite each other in a cafe, each texting someone else on their handset....
Because of this, I've never bothered with them. A few years ago I threw my mobile phone away and spent four glorious years away from the mobile world. In fact, it was only because of work that I begrudgingly spent �4.99 on a handset and SIM card at the local ASDA store and that's been my 'phone of choice ever since.

But.
I've recently been given (loaned) a few different smartphone handsets and asked to write some software and some websites to run on them. It took me a while to get past the fact that as a miniature computer, they couldn't compete with my notebook and as a 'phone they're just excessive. But slowly, I'm coming to realise that it's not the device that has upset me so much over the years - it's how it's used.

The earlier example is something you see a lot in most towns and cities across the UK:
two people sat opposite each other, each on their phone, chatting or texting with someone else. Why not just invite the other person to the cafe and sit and chat with them instead? I genuinely believe that these devices are affecting social interaction between people - and not just thanks to the slang and grammar that is creeping into everyday language, but even how people relate to each other when they are face-to-face. And it's not for the better!

That said, I'm slowly warming to these smartphone devices.
Not because I can access my emails and Twitter while on-the-go (I can, but still prefer reading things full screen on my notebook). Nor because I can view any website while out-and-about; because when I'm out-and-about, I want to interact with the real world, not a series of virtual images and links! In fact, for gathering and reading information, I still think something with a puny 3" screen is a pretty poor device for doing so, however impressive the technology behind making it happen is. And to see people sitting and walking around, oblivious to their surroundings, concentrating on what's happening to their "virtual alter ego" makes me want to weep. Put your phone away - enjoy the sunshine! Listen to the sounds of the city, enjoy the company of other people!

However, as a device for taking a photo and posting a quick note - "I'm here, I've seen this, come see for yourself" - well, I'm getting to actually quite like my (borrowed) smartphone(s). Jabbing a button to take a photo or a short video, then sending to the 'net takes a minute or two at most, but allows me to share what I'm doing with the world!

But now I've fallen out of love with my smartphone - because there's just sooo much going on and sooo many people "broadcasting to the world" that it's just becoming a noise, and I don't want to be just another voice adding to the massive pile of crap that makes up most of the "social networking" side of the internet.

In fact, I don't really care about sharing my stuff with the world.
I don't care if the world is interested.
What I do want to do is publish stuff that I find interesting and share it with my friends and family who may also find it interesting. That's it really.

And that's what sites like Twitter and Facebook allow me to do (I'm a pretty new user of both). I just didn't realise it; maybe because most of the posts I read are from people wanting to broadcast to as wide an audience as possible, trying to sound impressive or interesting to as many people as they can, trying to attract as many friends/followers as possible. But  my dislike of the Twitter and Facebook sites didn't stem from the technology - it came from how people were using them. But all it takes is a change of attitude, and suddenly my smartphone and a previously hated site becomes quite a useful tool.

I'd never consider phoning my best mate up to say "mmmm, I'm eating some toast, nom nom".
I wouldn't send even my closest family member an email to ask "tea or coffee? I can't decide".
I don't understand why people post rubbish like that on Twitter.
But that doesn't mean that I have to either. So I won't.

But posting text and images to the 'net (via Twitter for example) for my circle of dozen or so close friends who might be interested in what I'm doing and when is infinitely easier with one of these little smartphone jobbies. And as a result, they might come along to where I'm at and join in with what I'm doing. And when they do, the phone has done it's job so we'll make sure they are turned off and put away - there's a world going on outside that 3" screen!

Samsung Galaxy ACE S5830 review

Although initially very impressed with the HTC Wildfire S, after trying the Samsung Galaxy S2 II, there's no comparison between the phones. I'd love my own Galaxy S2 (the phones I have are on trial while I perform some RnD for software development) but I can't justify the price to myself.

Somewhere between the two - and available from www.mobiles.co.uk for about �6/month (after cashback) with unlimited data - is the Samsung ACE S5830.

This is like the little brother to the S2. In most respects, when comparing the hardware against the WildfireS and the S2, it sits somewhere between the two. The screen/display is bigger than the HTC but smaller than the S2. This means the images are as clear (or clearer) than the HTC, but nowhere near as bright and vibrant  as the S2. It has a faster processor than the Wildfire (but not as fast the S2).
The actual handset is quite slim - although it weighs about the same as the HTC, because of the larger unit size, it actually feels lighter (if that makes sense?). All-in-all, this handset is a nice compromise between the lower (budget) end of the market and the all-singing-all-dancing- top-end (the Galaxy S2).

In fact, we may be seeing a bit more of this unit, since a few Nerd Club members have already expressed an interest in taking up the mobiles.co.uk offer for a free handset with 300 minutes, 300 texts and unlimited data every month for about �6 (after claiming cashback). Not a bad handset. And not a bad contact offer either!

Samsung Galaxy S2 II review

I'm still pretty new to the whole smartphone market, having had a few different handsets in my possession for just a few days. I spent some time getting to know the HTC Wildfire S and was pretty impressed with it. But I've no real experience of owning any other type of smartphone, so haven't really had anything to compare it to.

I've been told that the Samsung Galaxy S2 II is the dogs-danglies of mobile phones.
The posters on bus shelters certainly look impressive but to the uninitiated (like me) it was just another phone handset. What could be so great about this, compared to other phones?

The first thing to note is that the colours are amazing. The image is bright and vibrant and really sharp. It's like the difference between an LCD television and an LED TV. The screen size is a massive 4.2" (480x800) and apparently uses AMOLED - whatever it is, the result is an image that stays the bright and sharp, even in direct sunlight.

I've seen what's possible with a bit of hacking and some custom code with these handsets, but never really appreciated the quality of the hardware. It's slim and light, has excellent power saving features (after leaving it overnight with all peripherals enabled, it still had about 70% battery the next day). One nice touch is that the screen doesn't get smudged up with fingermarks (actually it does, but these are only visible when you turn the phone off, not when you're using it). The photos are a massive 8mp and uploaded automatically to my Google account - the clarity of the photos is pretty good though I can't help but think that 8mp is a bit much for photos to share over the 'net. The images are good, but not "professional camera" quality. And unless you're going to print the images (in which case, use a camera not a phone!) there's not much difference between sharing an 8mp and a 4mp image - except of course the massive file size. In fact, when I downloaded the photos from my Google account onto my laptop, I found that resizing by 50% (and even by 25%) resulted in the same great image still at a resolution that was bigger than a lot of computer screen sizes....

This is just a personal gripe (although if I was paying for the data connection rather than using my wi-fi connection it might be a different issue). Everything else about the Samsung Galaxy S2 II puts it in a league of it's own. An amazing (albeit expensive) bit of kit. I'd love to be able to keep this one! Suddenly the Samsung Galaxy S2 makes the HTC Wildfire S look like a "budget" smartphone.

HTC Wildfire review

It's been nearly two weeks since the last post of 2011 and there's a reason for that - for the last few weeks, "real life" has just sort of got in the way. A few of us took a trip to an Irish Celidh (pronounced kay-lee) and sort-of skip-hopped-and danced the New Year in. On returning to Nerd Towers, we eagerly took all our new Xmas gadgets and gizmos round to the Nerd Cupboard to get to work on some new projects (and further advance - I'm not going to say finish - some old ones).
That's when it started to go wrong.

Real life (i.e. work) kicked in and suddenly all the spare nerding time was taken up with other things.
In fact, it's not all that bad; work involves investigating a number of different mobile handsets and writing some software to run on all of them. Some people do this as a hobby. If I were interested in mobile phones, I probably would too (some of the other club members are more enthusiastic about the phones than I and want to help out even though they're not getting paid for it!). But I'm getting paid to play about with some phones and write mobile websites and develop some iPhone and Android apps.

It's a pretty all-consuming task, so some of our earlier projects may have to wait for a week or two until this work is delivered.

Anyway, this leads onto the review of the phones.
The first phone I tried was a HTC Wildfire S

This was my first go with a smartphone. I've seen iPhones around and almost everyone at BuildBrighton has some kind of smartphone but I've never really seen the appeal in them myself. Anyway, putting that initial scepticism aside, I tried to evaluate this phone fairly.

Given it's the first phone I've tried, I was pretty impressed - but then I had nothing to compare it to. It's a nice, smart design. It feels pretty solid and the touch-sensitive screen responds well. I don't know if it's my fat greasy fingers, but the screen does get "smeary" very quickly though. Compared to my regular mobile phone, it is pretty heavy. But then again, this is a miniature computer, not an antique from the 90s.

I found that I manually have to put the phone into airplane mode to disable the wi-fi and bluetooth when I'm not using them, else the battery is flat if left overnight with everything enabled. I'm sure regular smartphone users know all the battery-saving tips already but I'm used to a phone that holds it's charge for up to 5 days at a time, not something that needs plugging in the next morning after using it!

All in all, the HTC Wildfire is a neat, compact smartphone. Probably ideal as a first, starter phone. The 5mp camera takes pretty decent photos and uploads them quickly and easily to my Google account. The 320x480 screen is big enough for most of the apps I tried and the display gives a bright, clear picture, while the black colour(s) are reassuringly dark (not greyed out like a cheap screen). But given I've nothing to compare it to, I don't really whether it's an amazing phone, or just a pretty good one!

Simplebotics one year anniversary

For the past year, SimpleBotics has been updating you on the latest in robotics technology. I want to thank all you readers, commenters, and supporters for following my blog. This year, my blog will be even better and more exciting. Thanks and the video above is an anniversary video I made, and I hope you enjoy it!

Official SimpleBotics google + page

Recently I received a message from google saying that I was required to change my profile name on google + . As a result I have now created a page for SimpleBotics, and you can add us to your circles by clicking the button on the widget to the right. Thanks and a new post will be up tomorrow morning!

Meet Sphero, the ball like robot that plays soccer

Most robots that play soccer are humanoids, but thats not the case with this little guy. Sphero is a robotic ball that is capable of playing soccer by rolling around. It can be controlled via bluetooth with a smart phone. Android and iPhones both work with this little robot. It has LED's built in, it can reach speeds up to three feet per second, and it has a gyro and an accelerometer built in. Another good thing about this robot is that its rechargeable, so you don't have to worry about replacing those batteries all the time. For now, this robot is not up for sale. However, you can pre-order it now at amazon.com for 129.99 USD. Thanks and we hope you enjoyed todays post.

Source: video and http://www.gosphero.com/

One year anniversary to be held January 13th

On January 13th it will be the one year anniversary for SimpleBotics. For the anniversary I will feature the best post I have possibly written on January 20th. However, for now it is just a surprise, and you will have to wait until the twentieth. Thanks if you have been following our blog for the past year.

A Wide Load Ready For Area 51

  After six months of work I spent this past week making a big push to finally complete my Makerbot Semi tractor and trailer assembly.  Last Friday I printed parts for eight hours to make the cradle for the UFO and all of the tires for the Lowboy trailer. Today I spent an additional six hours to print the rims and hubs for these tires. Here is the end result.

  This last photo gives you a good idea of the scale of this model.  It's big to say the least.  That's a five dollar bill laying next to the model. The model from bumper to bumper is 30.5 inches long.  The tractor is 7 inches tall and is 4.25 inches wide.  The scale for the model is exactly 1/24th scale. The UFO also made on a Makerbot 3D printer is ten inches in diameter and has been coated with fiberglass resin, then sanded and sanded and sanded some more to make it smoooooth and painted silver. (See earlier posts on how this was built.)  The complete model took over six months to design, print, and assemble. It would have taken less time if I had my own Makerbot as I have to travel 70 miles just to use one at the QC Co-Lab maker space in Davenport Iowa.   The complete model has close to 500 parts in it and took almost 90 hours to print. This does not include the time it took to print out the parts for the UFO which has 133 parts in it. 
  This has been a great project to design and build.  It could also have different trailers made for the model.  It could have a regular flat bed, a tanker, or a cargo box trailer.  Or even a car carrier.  This would be great as a lot of different cars could be made on the Makerbot to be displayed along with the carrier.  Probably would be another six months at least to do the eight or so cars that would be on the carrier.  Something to think about for future projects.

  

In these two photos you can see the detail that was put into the assembly of the Lowboy trailer to make it align properly and be strong at the same time.  1/4 inch wooden dowel pins were cut and inserted into alignment holes for the rear chassis.

These photos show some of the intricate locking parts that make up the Lowboy trailer.  Again all of the components are tied together using 1/4 inch dowel pins that were cut and sanded to fit into mating holes.  All of these components were epoxied together to add additional strength to the assembly.

These three photos show all the work that went into the front of the Lowboy trailer that make up the hitch.  Lots and lots of dowel pins had to be hand cut and fitted then as before epoxied to the rest of the trailer for strength. Time well spent as the trailer now is quite strong and more then able to hold up the weight of the UFO sitting on it.  

  
Additional wooden bracing was added to the underside of the low section of the Lowboy trailer.  I painted the wood gloss black to make it stand out and then epoxied this in to position.  This stiffened up the trailer a great deal and it still looks good underneath. 

Beam walker roundup

I have found some pretty neat videos on beam walkers, and I have now decided to share them with you in the list below. Each robot uses one, two or even five servos to walk. The robot's circuit is called a bicore. Enjoy!

  1.

2.

3.

4. This is my video.

5.

6.



Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the videos!

Uncanny Valley Research

Some robots are cute, sophisticated, ugly, or even scary looking. Now I'm not going to go in depth about cute or ugly robots. I'm here to talk about the scary ones, or perhaps the ones that make you feel uncomfortable. You may know what I'm talking about if you have seen the robots in the movie, "I-Robot." If you have then you know those robots have human like faces. Now pretend your in a room and your standing near one of those robots, and your looking at them face to face. How would you feel; would you feel uncomfortable because the robot is not human, but it really does looks like one. Don't worry if you get freaked out; your one of many humans that find human like robots creepy and scary. Anyways, in my research I have made a video and in that video I have chosen six robots. Some look like cute little harmless creatures and some don't. In the video I have told YouTube users to comment on the video (or this post), and choose the robot's number and then add a few adjectives that describe the robot. For example, robot number one is nice looking. Once I have all the data I need I will then average up the words people used to describe the robots. Thanks for reading and if you would like to contribute to my research then please watch my video above and comment below by telling me a descriptive word about one of the robots.

Meet Romibo, the Cutest Little Robot

If your having stress or your down in the blues, then maybe this little guy can help. Meet Romibo, he's a little red robotic fur ball with a big personality. Romibo is developed by Origami Robotics and with the help of, wait for it... Carnegie Melon. One of the main goals for this robot are to aid children with ASD, or autism spectrum disorders. Origami robotics also wants to distribute these robots at a reasonable price, and this means this robot will be for the everyday consumer that doesn't want to burn a hole in their wallet. It uses a range of sensors and gizmos to give off an appealing look and feel. The beta kits for these robots are expected to be ready for sale this year.Thanks for reading and be sure to stay updated if your interested in purchasing one and check out their website at romibo.org


Source: http://www.romibo.org